Anytime Autonomous English MALL App Engagement

Abstract

Mobile assisted language learning (MALL) apps are often said to be 'Anytime' activities. But, when is 'Anytime' exactly? The objective of the paper is to provide evidence for the when of MALL activity around the world. The research method involved the collection and analysis of an EFL app’s time data from 44 countries. The findings were surprising in the actual consistency of usage, 24/7, across 43 of the 44 countries. The 44th country was interesting in that it differed significantly in terms of night time usage. The research also noted differences in Arab, East Asian and Post Communist country usage, to what might be construed to be a general worldwide app time usage norm. The results are of interest as the time data findings appear to inform the possibility of a potentially new innovative pedagogy based on an emerging computational awareness of context and opportunity, suggesting a possible future language learning niche within the Internet of Things (IoT), of prompted, powerful, short-burst, mobile learning.